Defiant Repentance

The scene is Exodus 32.

Here's the command:

"You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God."

Exodus 20:3-5a 

Here's the transgression:

"So Aaron said to them, 'Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.' So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf."

Exodus 32:2-4  

Notice how deliberate Aaron is. Aaron is leading the charge! He orders the gold. He collects the gold. He carefully fashions the gold with a graving tool!

Here's the confession:

"And Moses said to Aaron, 'What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?' And Aaron said, 'Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, 'Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' So I said to them, 'Let any who have gold take it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf."

Exodus 32:21-24 

You're kidding, right? "and out came this calf"!?! It is clear throughout Exodus that although Aaron doesn't play the role to the people that Moses does, he is still an identified and established leader. In the absence of Moses, it is understood that Aaron is the default leader. That's why Moses approaches Aaron and Aaron alone when he comes down off of Mount Sinai. Aaron does a couple things:

1) In his confession, Aaron shifts the blame. He attempts to slide out from the weight of condemnation by pointing his finger at the people. They made me do it! he says. You know how stiff necked they are! You can't blame me!

 2) Aaron uses passive voice in describing active transgression. "He received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf." Aaron fashioned. Aaron made. With a tool. "And out came this calf." Now, according to Aaron, the calf fashioned itself, made itself, and emerged from the fire itself.

How often is this true of us? Even if we recognize our sin, we pad our confessions to God and to others with language that makes us feel better about it. We get just about as close as we can to our true discomfort zone--the zone that makes us squirm when we realize God's holiness and our sinfulness--and then press the eject button and float down to "safety" as we rationalize our failure through circumstance and comparison.

That's not what David did.

"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my other conceive me."

Psalm 51:1-5 

No hedging. No pretending. No pointing fingers at anyone but himself. No comparing. David Unabashedly recognizes God's holiness and his inadequacy. This is defiant repentance. David defies every impulse in the human heart to slide out from the weight of condemnation. Its almost as if he's digging through the garbage can of his soul and flinging all of it at God. I think if we could watch David read James 5:16 he would explode in joy and affirmation.

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed."

YES! EXACTLY! David would say. The upside-down world of defiant repentance tells us that if we try to slip out from the inescapable anvil of condemnation like Aaron, we will feel its weight for eternity. Rather, if we call out to God like David and say, "hey, this is really heavy. Can you help me out here?" We will never feel so much as a feather of its weight because Christ bore it for us. Eternal condemnation for eternal joy. Because of Christ.

Romans 5:8. Romans 8:1.

Genuine repentance. God-granted growth. Effective sanctification. Effervescent Joy.





 

He Refuses to Play That Game

1 Timothy 1:15-- "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief."


Keller comments,

"Not I was chief, but I am chief. Or 'I am the worst.' This is off our maps. We are not used to someone who has incredible confidence volunteering the opinion that they are one of the worst people. We are not used to someone who is totally honest and totally aware of all sorts of moral flaws--yet has incredible poise and confidence.

We cannot do that. Do you know why? Because we are judging ourselves. But Paul will not do that. When he says that he does not let the Corinthians judge him nor will he judge himself, he is saying that he knows about his sins but he does not connect them to himself and his identity. His sins and his identity are not connected. He refuses to play that game. He does not see a sin and let it destroy his sense of identity. He will not make a connection. Neither does he see an accomplishment and congratulate himself...So, although he knows himself to be the chief of sinners, that fact is not going to stop him from doing all the things that he is called to do."


Tim Keller, The Freedom of Self-forgetfulness, p.30 (emphasis added)

Scripture, Culture, and the Human Heart

To illustrate, connect, and apply

So much to be said here. Thanks to my buddy Jeremiah Lepasana for finding this.

Luther on Romans 3:21-26

"Here therefore is the sermon of sermons and the wisdom of heaven; in order that we may believe that our righteousness and salvation and comfort come to us from outside; in order that we may believe that, though in us dwells naught but sin an unrighteousness and folly, we are, nevertheless, acceptable before God, righteous and holy and wise"

24 Minute Gospel IV

Here

Humble Meekness, Unconquerable Confidence

Romans 1:1a "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle..."


The recognizable pattern in Paul's epistolary introduction sets forth a two-fold identity. Paul calls himself both servant of Christ Jesus and apostle. What are the differences between the two? How do they cooperate?

First, servant of Christ Jesus, also could be translated "slave." Paul primarily points to his fortified identity in Christ. It indicates a sense of personal devotion and exclusive commitment

Second, an apostle. This indicates an outward, expansive identity--a missional focus. Paul identifies his authority as equal to the 12 apostles chosen by Christ who established and governed the church, and preached the word of God to the Jews and Gentiles.

Therefore, this two-fold identity establishes two distinct tracks which merge into a missional, gospel centered helix. The vertical indicatives of the gospel call Paul into servanthood to Christ. The horizontal imperatives of the gospel drive Paul out into servanthood for the Church and the world. The vertical indicatives inspire humble meekness--that a gospel suppressing sinner would still be welcomed into the family of God by the blood of Jesus. As that truth is massaged into our bones, the horizontal imperatives joyfully send us out to the world with an unconquerable confidence in Christ.

Paul is a perfect example of this! Look at 1:14-16...

14: "I am under obligation"
15: "So I am eager to preach the gospel to you"
16: "For I am not ashamed"


Obliged, joyful, not ashamed. That is one potent trifecta.

Galatians 2:11-16

"For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I id not receive it from any man, nor was I thought it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me..."


No explanation needed.

Identity, Idolatry, and the Gospel (part 2)

So put bluntly, in modern terms, Herod was a tool. Cocky. He thought he was the man, and wanted everyone to know it. He was that guy in the clubs with the popped collar, stunner shades on, hair gelled stiff, using money like napkins. Think Jersey Shore.

Throwing dirt Lebron style on the top of Mount Carmel

As Jeremiah and I considered this individual, we asked ourselves an important question. What about the human heart leads to action such as this? Herod’s behavior certainly isn’t anachronistic. We’ve seen power trips like this all throughout history, and we still see them today. Trump. Where’s the commonality? That common denominator is idolatry. The sin of idolatry subtly ravages the human heart. Idolatry can be defined as looking to other things to provide the comfort, satisfaction, joy, peace, security, and rest that only God can provide. Ask yourself the question, “If only I had _______, then I would be OK.” Or, “As long as _________ continues to happen, then I’m OK.” Fill in the blank. For Herod it was power. It was control. As long as he was in control, and could CLEARLY demonstrate it, he was ok. Herod was defined by lavishness and opulence. It could be different for you. Financial security? Family? Job? Marriage? Social status? Car? House? Education? Sex? Influence? What is the one thing in your life that if you lost it, you would be utterly devastated? An idol is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.

Now keep in mind Jeremiah’s last sentence. “We met Jesus.” We’re going there. I want to be clear on why we are going there before we do.

Jeremiah and I looked at Herod’s idolatrous situation, and ultimately ours, in terms of a two-fold identity. After a particular lecture in Caesarea, Jeremiah came up to me and applied these concepts of passive identity and active identity. Passive identity includes the factors you are defined by that are outside of your control. For example, your parents. Your neighborhood. Basically, the culture you were born into. This is very formative, and provides foundational nourishment through adolescence. Yet there comes a point where the individual delves deeper into personal autonomy.

We’ll call this active identity. From Jeremiah’s and my experience, we’ve seen this happen somewhere in the teens. At this point, the individual has had sufficient experience in the world, and starts making moves. Affections are stirred in particular directions, toward different things. Individuals start deciding who they want to be. What they want to be known for. This life long process of active identity and personal autonomy is an idolatrous incubator. You, me, and Herod place our identity and affections in these things that allure our hearts so effectively.

So what does Jesus have to do with this? In accordance with our trip, I want to demonstrate the character of God and idolatry through the Old Testament. This will help us make sense of Jesus. We are led to 1 Kings 18, where Elijah defeats the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel. This was a site we were blessed to visit a few weeks back.

The purpose for Elijah’s contest was to directly confront the idol of the Israelites.  King Ahab and Queen Jezebel were promoting a pluralistic society in Israel. They saw no problem with worshipping Baal one day, and the Lord on the Sabbath. The case is no different in our present day. We live in a society that is absolutely deistically pluralistic. In the text, Baal was not a concrete god as we see with other ancient gods like Zeus. Baal was understood in more of a generic sense. There was a Baal for everything, such as water, food, and land.  In our culture, these Baals still exist. Everything can be a Baal, and everything has been a Baal. How many times in our culture do we see success on TV, and think, “if only I had that, I would be ok?” When we see perfect women on billboards and think “if only I looked like that” or “if only I could date a girl that looked like her.” The possibilities are endless. There are Baals all around us. We undoubtedly live in Elijah’s pluralistic society.

            With idols all around us, it is imperative to identify these idols. In the text we see the NIV translation say “they danced around the altar they had made…so they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed.” In their calling to Baal, we see the prophets do three things. They danced, they shouted louder, and finally they slashed themselves until their blood flowed.  These are perfect characteristics and demonstrations of how we act with our Baals. Our Baals need appeasement. They are demanding. They require performance. We dance for them.  When something has captured our hearts so intently that we will do anything to acquire them, we have been enticed by a Baal.

 In recent years Madonna has expressed that the only reason she keeps going, the only reason she keeps writing new songs is because she can only stay on the top of the charts for so long. She needs the feeling of that number one spot. It’s the same with athletes who cannot bring themselves to retire despite an age that screams laz-e-boy (Jordan with the Wizards?). After the economic crisis hit in 2008, a string of suicides followed among the formerly wealthy. These included David Kellerman, the chief financial officer of Freddie Mac. Another suicide following the crisis was Cristen Schnor, a Danish banker who hanged himself in a London hotel. Their Baals were their identity. Their Baals demanded performance. When we do not appease our idols, or get what we want from them, we shout louder. We try harder. When our idols ultimately leave us empty, when we call out and get no response, our worlds crumble. Our idols demand our blood, and it gushes out in pursuit of them.

            In the midst of our despair, we have a more beautiful remedy than we could ever imagine, and it lies within the place in which the fire came down. “Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.” The fire did not fall on the Israelites watching, or further off into the mountains, but the fire fell on the sacrifice. The sacrifice on the mount defeated the idol, and was the means by which people believed.” The character of God as seen through the Old Testament is to save idolatrous sinners by means of sacrifice. Familiar, huh? Enter Jesus.

 In the same way, Jesus sacrificed Himself on Mount Calvary to eliminate our idols. He took the fire of God’s judgment on our behalf, so that we may experience the fire of God’s love. Contrary to our false gods who say “slash yourself for me,” Jesus, out of adoration, slashed Himself for us. His blood flowed in our place. Not due to our performance, not because we deserve it, but because He already loved us-because of His pure, satisfactory delight in us as we are now. The remedy from our idols, the cure for our Baals, is not an increase in performance or effort, but instead resting in Christ’s finished work on the cross. “For He was pierced for our transgression, He was crushed for our iniquity. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”

The Person and Work of Jesus (Part 1)

Throughout our time and studies in Jerusalem, we have been consistently exposed to ancient Jewish culture in the time of Jesus. Our professor, Dr. Wright, has been a great help in making somewhat of a foreign culture more familiar to us. We have seen how this culture worked especially in terms of the ancient cultural standard of “ritual purification.” The ultimate aim of these rituals would be to remove specifically defined “uncleanliness” prior to worship or interaction with a deity. The culture in the time of Jesus was transfixed on this notion of cleanliness. It defined their social interactions and very being. As our professor noted, “uncleanliness” could be transmitted by touch our even transitively through pots, jars, doors, etc. Due to this fact, those who were considered unclean were exiled--social pariahs--in fear that these people would blemish other’s standing before God. These ideas are still practiced today, as seen through Orthodox Jews. Kosher food laws would be an example of this.

Me Looking out over the Sea of Galilee and its surrounding settlements

Now, why does this matter? Why should we know this stuff? Is it relevant to us today? Oh, yes. Yes it is. You see, God sent his one and only Son, Jesus, into this particular culture. This culture. Not 21^st century. Therefore, in order to understand the person and work of Jesus, and ultimately the character of God, we must examine how he interacts with this particular culture. We need to grasp the ritual purity laws to understand ancient Jewish culture, just as someone 2,000 years in the future would need to grasp the economy, technological innovation, or political structures to understand our modern American culture.

            With this understanding, I want to now turn to Mark 5:21-42, which vividly demonstrates how Jesus interacts with and challenges ancient Jewish culture in ways that are exceedingly relevant to us today. I’ll finish part 1 of this post with the passage, and attempt to explain it in part 2. All of the following took place around the Sea of Galilee, the exact region we just spent four days examining as a class.

Mark 5:21-42

 “And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, ‘my little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.’ And he went with him.

            And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, ‘If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.’ And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my garments?’ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say ‘who touched me?’’ And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’

            While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, ‘your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?’ but overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, ‘why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, ‘Talitha cumi,’ which means, ‘Litter girl, I say to you, arise.’ And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.”

What is the Bible Basically About?

A class earlier today brought this video back to my attention

Paul's Confidence

Throughout my life with Jesus so far, a particular passage in scripture has really captured my attention. I always find myself coming back to it, never really diving deeply into it--not attempting to exegetically or hermeneutically disassemble it and make sense of it--I have more so just observed it from afar, as I would a potentially dangerous animal I'm unfamiliar with.

It wasn't until a week ago that I made any progress with this particular passage--nothing groundbreaking, you'll learn exponentially more from Doug Moo's commentary, but regardless, it struck me.

Romans 3:10-18: None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.


I've always taken this passage and held it up as my mirror to look into, frightened by my reflection. That's the thorough description of Erik Most's depravity. It wasn't until I took my eyes off myself, looked through a broader scope, and realized that this is also the depravity of humanity as a whole...including the one writing the epistle, Paul.

 It seems as if Paul wants to make his point here very clear. He's not saying "you guys are pretty bad, but I'm alright." In the first 2 verses, 11 and 12, Paul uses words to reference the complete failure of all people 8 times. Surely he knows he's lumping himself into this group.

Why would Paul say such a thing about himself?! How could he! Especially in a culture that held the law in the highest regard! How could Paul say that in the midst of a culture that endlessly perpetuated the notion that righteousness is humanly resourced?

Well, If we keep reading through Romans 3, it is evidently clear that Paul has full confidence in an external righteousness. An alien righteousness. Paul can own his depravity with full confidence! "Yep! That's me! I'm the chief of sinners!" He can do this because he's insanely secure in the righteousness of Christ. To the degree that he expounds on his depravity, is to the degree that he is fully relying on the redemption that is in Christ, despite his depravity.

In the same way, lets not kid ourselves. We are not the people who our idolatrous, sinful hearts project us to be. We don't have it together. We're not sweet theologians. We're not awesome super Christians.  In thinking we are and we do these things, we unknowingly shackle ourselves to our own agenda and forfeit the reckless freedom we have in Christ.

So lets own Romans 3:11-18, because in doing so, we then cast ourselves on the resplendent majesty of Christ's righteousness. We are freed, like Paul, to stop trying to earn, deserve, and project. Were freed  to living with reckless abandonment knowing we are secure in the righteousness of another, Jesus.

Overcome My Unbelief

Mark 9:24 - "Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, 'I believe; help my unbelief!'"


Theoretically, mentally, conceptually, intellectually, topically--Yes, I would say I believe in the gospel of Jesus

Yet

Practically, functionally, experientially--My heart is riddled with idolatry. My action, my sense of inner peace, the true rest of my soul--TRUE rest--the deepest, calming, chaos-ending sigh of the soul--simply does not reflect or depend on what I'm claiming theoretically, mentally, etc.

Therefore

Just like the father of the possessed boy, my deepest plea is that my entire being would be comprehensively convinced and absolutely swept away by the glorious grace that is in Christ, and that my unbelief would be overcome. It has to be external. My plea is for Jesus' accomplishment on the cross to accomplish the overcoming my unbelief.

The most beautiful thing is, He surely has done it, and he surely will do it.

"Through Jesus we don't need perfect righteousness, just repentant helplessness, to access the presence of God." - Tim Keller

Just repentant helplessness.


Colossians 2:14-15 - God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.


Lord, in Him, disarm the rulers and authorities of our hearts.

Too Good Not To Repost

King's Cross. Chapter 5. The Power.

Keller, commenting on Mark 4:35-41


"Jesus says, 'One greater than Jonah is here,' and he's referring to himself: I'm the true Jonah. He meant this: Someday I'm going to calm all storms, still all waves. I'm going to destroy destruction, break brokenness, kill death. how can he do that? He can do it only because when he was on the cross he was thrown--willingly, like Jonah--into the ultimate storm, under the ultimate waves, the waves of sin and death. Jesus was thrown into the only storm that can actually sink us--the storm of eternal justice, of what we owe for our wrongdoing. that storm wasn't calmed--not until it swept him away.

If the sight of Jesus bowing his head into that ultimate storm is burned into the core of your being, you will never say, 'God, don't you care?' And if you know that he did not abandon you in that ultimate storm, what makes you think he would abandon you in the much smaller storms you're experiencing right now? And, someday, of course, he will return and still all storms for eternity. 


If you let that penetrate to the very center of your being, you will know he loves you. You will know he cares. And then you will have the power to handle anything in life with poise." (p. 57-58, my emphasis)


In the middle of any storm, even the most tempestuous hurricane, he is infinitely more powerful. He can, has, and will subdue the storm like a compliant child. In the midst of my storms, I have him, and he is more than enough. 

A Strange Melancholy

Alexis de Tocqueville was a French aristocrat who lived in the 1800s. He was known as a political thinker, and his most famous work was Democracy in America. During his investigations of America and its political structure, he noted the following, as quoted in Tim Keller's Counterfeit Gods.

"A strange melancholy that haunts the inhabitants...in the midst of abundance..."

About one hundred years later C.S. Lewis stumbled upon the same conclusion:

"There is something we have grasped at, in that first moment of longing, which just fades away in the reality..." 

de Tocqueville concludes:

"the incomplete joys of this world will never satisfy the human heart."

And Lewis, simply and famously:

"something has evaded us."

Colossians 3:1-5 - Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

Incomplete joys. idolatry. Anything can be an idol, and just about everything has been. Its usually the best things that are.

Keller on rooting out our idols:

Idolatry is not just a failure to obey God, it is a setting of the whole heart on something besides God.   This cannot be remedied only by repenting that you have an idol, or using willpower to try to live differently. Turning from idols is not less than those two things, but it is also far more. 'setting the mind and heart on things above' where 'your life is hid with Christ in God' means appreciation, rejoicing, and resting in what Jesus has done for you. It entails joyful worship, a sense of God's reality in prayer. Jesus must become more beautiful to your imagination, more attractive to your heart, than your idol.

Why Expository Preaching?

Keller on Jonah and Jesus

Keller on Jonah and Jesus

Everyone should read this post, and this upcoming book. And the Bible.

My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness

Came across this in church this morning. Peace to my soul.

Col 2:6-7 - "Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done."


My heart is filled with thankfulness to him who bore my pain; who plumbed the depths of my disgrace and gave me life again; who crushed my curse of sinfulness, and clothed me in his light, and wrote his law of righteousness with pow'r upon my heart

My heart is filled with thankfulness to him who walks beside; who floods my weaknesses with strength and causes fear to fly; whose every promise is enough for every step I take; sustaining me with arms of love and crowning me with grace.

My heart is filled with thankfulness to him who reigns above; whose wisdom is my perfect peace, whose every thought is love. For every day I have on earth is given by the King. So I will give my life, my all, to love and follow him.

Gen 22, Abraham's example

Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac is staggering. I yearn to view, feel, and hold the glory, peace, comfort, and love of Christ in such high regard that everything earthly, no matter how important or seemingly worthy, pales in comparison. I want to willingly sacrifice anything and everything that muffles the grace that is in Christ Jesus. What a wonderful Savior we have. Jesus, the great friend of idolators like me.

What else on this earth can we depend on wholeheartedly for this promise?

Gen 22:14 "The Lord will provide."


I don't want or expect anything else to provide. All I'm after is his provision. That's all I want. Out of his great love for sinners, he has provided on the cross.

What a sufficient, glorious, incomprehensible, graceful, affectionate, continually redeeming Savior.

Your Own Making

"The depth of the wound is your own making" -Tim Keller

Whatever you are going through in life--whatever consumes your thought, soul, and deed in a negative way, is ultimately, our fault.

All external factors in this life can and will impose themselves on us, yes, in a negative way. The particular action--job loss, failure as a parent, failed class, broken relationship, unrequited love, broken or troubled marriage, general anxiety, physical illness, general disappointment, faulty finances, overworked, etc.-- may have been imposed on us in an unjust way to the point where we are the victim by any standard.

But-- to the extent that we let that event ravage our soul, to the extent that our okayness--our feeling of being justified--is linked to that particular event is our fault. 


The depth of that wound is a direct reflection of our distrust in Christ's sufficiency. Every time we are met with a form of struggle, we must filter it through the gospel. The world imposes it on us and it may be unjust, but the moment it reaches us the gospel is thoroughly sufficient to ease the anxiety of our souls.

Here's the beauty. The only thing that will ever span the chasm of our wounds are His wounds. Isaiah 53. period. Our hope is external. Our idolatry--no matter how rampant--cannot cannot cannot affect our ravishing hope that is in Christ Jesus. If it were up to us to apply that filter, we would be absolutely wrecked. Christ makes his glory and mercy so evident that he directly intercedes on our behalf. If it were up to me, I'd be screwed. Seriously. Praise be to God.

1 Peter 1:3-9 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes through it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Saying What You Believe Is Clearer Than Saying “Calvinist”

Saying What You Believe Is Clearer Than Saying “Calvinist”